The children from Sarawak who competed in the Hippo English Without Borders competition in Da Nang.
DA NANG (July 11): The enthusiasm to prove their English chops was seen on the faces of 291 children from different countries during a balmy Saturday morning here last week as they gathered to compete in the far east regional qualifier of Hippo’s English Without Borders competition on July 5, 2025.
Among them were children from Sarawak: Taiga Ling Ren Xing, Ethan Chua Jun Quan and Stella Chang Ching Yi from St Joseph’s Private Schools, Kuching; Arman Abu Bakar from Sekolah Sri Knewton, Miri; Jared Lee Ren Lau from SJK Chung Hua No. 1, Kuching; and Jolyn Chiong Jia Hxuan from SJKC Su Tak, Sarikei.
There were other children from Malaysia who were also vying to secure an opportunity to represent Malaysia in the academic competition’s World Finals stage.
Billed as a global academic English competition, Hippo, which started in 2013, is targeted at children between six to 19 years old who compete according to their age groups over four stages.
Some 93,148 students from 3,208 schools across 73 countries participated in the competition this year, with the World Finals to be held from Sept 29 to Oct 1, 2025 in Assisi, Italy.
Taiga made Sarawak proud when he clinched the gold medal in the Little Hippo category, thus securing his invitation to the World Finals.
Six children from other Malaysian states also won their ‘golden ticket’ through scoring the best mark in their respective categories.
They will join potentially 37 children from Malaysia, including two from Sarawak – Ronald Hu King Onn from SMK Chung Hua, Sibu; and Theodora Pei Ern Huei from SMK Merbau, Miri, who have already qualified to the World Finals during the contest’s National Finals stage earlier.
Taiga, who turns 10 this year, has attempted the competition three times thus far.
“I feel very excited (about winning); I’m not sure if I am ready for Italy but if they tell me to go, I’ll go!” he said with great enthusiasm.
Taiga clinched the gold medal in the Little Hippo category and secured a place in the World Finals.
Gan Choon Keong from Caya Academy, which is the Malaysia and Singapore Hippo coordinator, said the Hippo English competition has grown in popularity in Malaysia since they introduced it to the country in 2020.
Starting with just 3,000 participants in the first year, the competition has now attracted over 19,000 participants in 2025, making it one of the most well-received English language competitions that emphasises the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) standard, he said.
Gan observed that as Hippo gained popularity in Malaysia, many participants returned to compete year after year even if they did not advance to the next round.
“Feedback from these participants shows that they see Hippo as a valuable opportunity to continue learning, improve their English proficiency, and enjoy their language learning journey,” he explained.
“Each year, through the Hippo World Final Round, over 40 top-performing participants from Malaysia qualify to compete in the Grand Final in Italy, joining other top English learners from more than 70 countries around the world.”
Daniele Piacenti, a Hippo founder, explained that the Hippo competition started in Venice, Italy as it was seen as a neutral area for children from Western and Eastern European countries to gather and have a friendly competition at a time of heightened political tensions.
By 2015, the competition had reached Abu Dhabi, and Asia by 2016.
Piacenti further drew attention to the availability of scholarships, Hippo4Equity Grants, that are targeted at Hippo candidates from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
These grants help enable disadvantaged children to participate in international Hippo events including the World Finals.
Application details for Hippo4Equity Grants can be found at https://hippo-thecontest.org/hippo-for-equity/.